This message is particularly for new birders, and new subscribers to the Ohio-birds listserve. Tomorrow is April 1st. Of course, many significant and worthwhile things have happened on that date; for example, it was the birthday of my friend, the late Ted Parker, the most amazing field ornithologist that I ever met. But April 1st is also celebrated, in some quarters, as April Fools' Day; and as a result, we have to be careful about believing rare bird reports on that date. In the past, there have been many such "April Fools' rarity reports" on this and other listserves. Sometimes these are outlandish and genuinely funny. But at other times they have been written in a very serious tone, in a very plausible way, with only a few subtle clues to tip off the experts that these aren't real reports. In some cases, eager new birders have jumped in their cars and headed off to chase these reported "rare birds." When that happens, the "joke" is not funny at all. In my opinion, any prank that targets beginners is a bad thing for birding. Of course, genuine rare birds may show up on April 1st, just as on any other day, so we shouldn't ignore rarity reports altogether! But if you see a report tomorrow that seems too good to be true, I recommend that you check it out thoroughly before you actually head out to pursue it. Kenn Kaufman Oak Harbor, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]